Angela Merkel

Germany’s Merkel praises U.S. House climate bill as a ‘sea change’

Angela MerkelPhoto: Bertelsmann StiftungThe climate bill being debated today in the U.S. House represents a “sea change” and “points to the fact that the United States [is] very serious on climate,” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a visit to the White House this morning. “I wish you every success. … I would not have […]

Obama on climate action: “Tough decisions and… concrete actions”

President Obama was asked a question today on global warming at his press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel: Q:  And another political issue, if I may. Madam Chancellor, climate change. Germany, Europe are putting concrete targets on the agenda, concrete reduction targets. Will America in the post-Kyoto process be willing to commit itself to […]

International youth call out Merkel and Tusk in Warsaw

On the day after German Chancellor Angela Merkel publicly announced that she would block needed reforms to the European Union’s climate package, a crowd of 200 people from more than 20 countries loudly called her and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to task outside the prime minister’s residence in Warsaw. The rally began less than […]

Carbon is forever — so ban new traditional coal plants now

Another clear statement (PDF) from the nation's top climate scientist on the scientific need for a dramatic change in global coal policy -- this time addressed to the German chancellor, a fellow physicist. He points out that:

German Chancellor Merkel focuses on climate change

In Germany, when the going gets tough, the tough go green:

Chancellor Angela Merkel seems to have realized that, contrary to the song lyrics, sometimes it's quite easy being green.

Mrs. Merkel has shied away from the biggest fight at home: the deep economic restructuring she advocated during her campaign two years ago. And on the matter of the suspected terrorist plot in the heart of Germany, she has remained in the background, apparently happy to cede the limelight to her interior minister, Wolfgang Schäuble.

But in the past month Mrs. Merkel could be found inspecting glaciers in Greenland and calling for new measures to combat global warming at a conference in Kyoto, Japan. It was as if Ronald Reagan had turned into Al Gore after being elected. But the voters loved it, awarding her the highest approval ratings any chancellor has enjoyed since World War II. [my emphasis]

The fact that a center-right politician can ride eco-campaigning to popularity could be a lesson for U.S. Republicans. Though Fred Thompson recently ridiculed global warming, polls show doing so might not be the smartest political move. The environment is the one issue on which Republican politicians are most out-of-step with the Republican base. According to a recent Pew study, 65 percent of Republicans want stricter environmental laws (though it's questionable how much of a voting priority it is). Ultimately, however, Merkel's ability to pull off a green hat trick shows the importance of creating bipartisan support for environmental protection.

15 Green Politicians

From mayors to heads of state, politicians the world over are going green. Check out our list of top achievers, then tell us which political leaders you’d nominate in the comments section at the bottom of the page. Photo: Thomas Hawk via Flickr Arnold Schwarzenegger The Governator has truly pumped up environmental action in California. […]

Poor guy

Poor Bush, he just can’t get a break. He announces a shiny new climate-change strategy, and what does he get? Nothing but grief. Nancy Pelosi called it "the same stale proposals he has repeatedly put forward to the international community." Al Gore called it "purely and simply smoke and mirrors [that] has the transparent purpose […]

A not-so-subtle call for climate change attention

At the base of snow-capped Mount Ararat, where the bible says Noah's ark came to rest after 40 days of flooding, environmentalist volunteers are constructing a miniature version of the famed zoological craft.

Its completion is being timed to coincide with next month's G8 summit in Germany, where climate change will be a hot issue. Last week, for instance, scientists from all across Africa plus Brazil, India, China, Mexico, and South Africa presented joint statements to German prime minister Angela Merkel calling for "united global action on energy efficiency and climate change mitigation."

The Network of African Science Academies (NASAC) also called for a joint fund to be set up between the G8 and the African Union to finance shared science and technology projects in priority areas.

All of which is a good thing, since this ark -- 10 meters long and 4 meters high -- might not quite cut it.

This is getting old

Next month, German Chancellor Angela Merkel will convene a summit of the G8 countries, which will issue a joint declaration on climate change. Here’s how that’s going: A draft proposal dated April 2007 that is being debated in Bonn, Germany, this weekend by senior officials of the Group of Eight includes a pledge to limit […]